


In My Shoes (And In My Place)

by Leonawriter



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-26
Updated: 2014-08-26
Packaged: 2018-02-14 20:30:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2202036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leonawriter/pseuds/Leonawriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chain of Memories AU. It’s hard, fighting against a picture-perfect copy of yourself. It’s harder realising you’re going to end up killing someone with your face, who thinks they’re you. If you give yourself a moment to think, it all goes pear-shaped.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In My Shoes (And In My Place)

He'd gone into the fight with the understanding - no, the _determination_ \- that only one of them would be coming out of it alive.

And now - now, here he was, sword raised, victory assured, as if there had been any other option. The opponent had been himself. Of _course_ it was a close fight, they knew each other's strengths and weaknesses as well as anyone.

He was panting, breathless yet still with just enough energy to carry on if he had to, just about enough willpower to do everything but that which he'd said he'd do from the start.

His eyes were staring back at him. Full of anger, full of hate, full of fear. Oh, the replica _wished_ he wasn't. Liked to pretend, just like he had before, that he wasn't afraid. After all, they were powerful enough to take on anyone, and anything - what had they to fear?

If it were just a manifestation of his own darkness, a Heartless with his face, his voice, his mannerisms, then he wouldn't have hesitated for a moment. To kill the darkness in his heart was one thing he wanted, desperately, to be able to do.

His replica with his face face grimaced in pain underneath him, likely due to the hold he had on the replica, the only reason it - he - hadn't moved.

"Well, aren't you going to do it? Given up, have you?"

The taunt fell flat. It was a clear thing who'd won the battle, and talking would only prevent the inevitable now. The fact that the replica was doing so, prodding for any opening, reminding Riku of how he'd been at his darkest, like a caged animal backed into a corner, didn't help things.

This was him. In holding the other down, he'd trapped them both. The replica couldn't escape, and unless he wanted to either kill himself or let the battle continue on, then he couldn't, either.

His breathing was heavy, as though there just wasn't enough air.

"If it was you up here," he found himself saying, "you'd do it, wouldn't you? You wouldn't need to think. You'd just _do it_."

If anything, the copy looked outraged, almost disgusted.

"Of course I would! I'm not scared like you are!"

The words hit him, and without thinking, because if he did, then he'd be wondering what the _hell_ he was _doing_ , and end up not doing it at all, he found himself smiling ironically as he let the other go, taking several steps back, not releasing Soul Eater yet but at the same time only keeping it on the defensive rather than the constant offensive it'd been on before.

"What? What're you _doing_?"

"Maybe that can be it," Riku said. "The difference between us. I found out the hard way that getting more power doesn't mean anything - you can still be defeated. And if you've got my memories, then you should be able to remember being beaten by Sora, too. So maybe this can be it. I can be the one who wouldn't, and you can be the one who would. You want a difference so badly? _Take it_."

Was that what he looked like when he was about to lose his temper? It had to be.

"That's not the point," the other raged. "There can't be two of us! You can't just _walk away like that!"_

"It looks like there _are_ two of us, like it or not. And if you want to be something more than a copy, why don't you go out there and _do_ something about it? Do things I haven't done, and stop rehashing all of my mistakes!"

For a moment they were both rooted to the spot, unmoving. Then, the replica brought his version of Soul Eater up again in a sloppy excuse for an attack, and charged, too mindless with emotion for it to have been anything other than easy for Riku to step aside and out of its way.

He started to walk on when he heard his voice again, calling after him in one last ditch attempt to get him back into the fight.

"You're just scared, like always! You think if you start fighting me again, you'll lose! You're just _running away_!"

He sighed. Didn't look back. Took first one step, then another.

"Maybe... maybe I'm more scared of losing myself... than I am of losing _to_ myself. Maybe that's it."

He kept walking after that, ignoring the scream of frustration behind him. Telling himself not to turn, no matter what, to keep going.

He only flinched when the door to the 'room' closed shut behind him, cutting off the sound, leaving the copy alone in the illusion.

...

Notes: I hope I did well at getting into both of their heads, as it’s been a while since I had the idea and it wasn’t as fresh when being typed as I usually try to get them out. Regardless, I’m going to see if there’s anything else I can add to the AU at some point, as this is one that practically _begs_ for additional content. If so, I'll end up deciding whether to add them as chapters here or create another story and turn it into a series, with this as the prologue of sorts.


End file.
